New Bridge La Dolfina, Pony Express Post Semifinal Wins To Reach Sunday’s Championship Match of Joe Barry Memorial Cup at International Polo Club
WELLINGTON, FL (January 25, 2007) – New Bridge La Dolfina continued its winning ways, picking up its 14th consecutive victory while cruising past Patagones 19-13 in the semifinals of the 22-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup Thursday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
In the other semifinal, 8-goaler Nicolas Roldan dribbled through a crowd and scored on a tap-in 2:21 into overtime to lift Pony Express over Audi 14-13. It was the third consecutive one-goal victory for Pony Express.
In the championship match, New Bridge La Dolfina plays Pony Express Sunday at 3 p.m. on Stanford Field at International Polo Club.
New Bridge La Dolfina has now reached three tournament finals out of the four it has played in at International Polo Club over the last two seasons, compiling a 16-1 record while winning two titles.
The 19 goals ties the second-highest single-game scoring by a team at International Polo Club. Brigadoon (2004) and Crab Orchard (2005) also scored 19 goals. The record is 21 goals by Lechuza Caracas on March 3, 2006.
Ten-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso and 9-goaler Matias Magrini scored seven goals apiece to lead Division I champion New Bridge La Dolfina (4-0), patron Russ McCall scored three goals and Martin Valent added two goals.
New Bridge La Dolfina scored six unanswered goals in the second chukker, two each by Cambiaso, Magrini and McCall to take a 10-2 lead. Patagones never got closer than six goals the rest of the game.
Michel Dorignac led Patagones (1-2) with eight goals while Guille Aguero scored four goals and Carlos Avendano added one goal. Harm Schutte, substituting for injured patron Gonzalo Avendano, did not score. Gonzalo Avendano apparently suffered a broken rib during a fall in Sunday’s match.
The final on Sunday is a rematch of Opening Day when New Bridge La Dolfina defeated Pony Express 16-9.
Nicolas Roldan said he expects Pony Express to perform better in the final.
“We tapped the ball too much against them and we missed too many penalty shots,” said Roldan, who scored a team-high six goals. “We’ll just try to open it up as much as we can. A final is a final. We’ll give it the best we’ve got.”
Roldan sent the game into overtime with 37 seconds remaining. Both the tying and winning goals were aboard Cobra, a 10-year-old thoroughbred owned by Bob Daniels, patron of Pony Express.
Roldan said he was using Cobra as a spare and played her in parts of the third and sixth chukkers, as well as the entire overtime.
On the winning goal, Roldan picked up the ball from behind teammate Gonzalo Von Wernich nearly 80 yards away from goal, dribbled down the middle through several defenders and tapped in the winning goal.
“It wasn’t a set play, it just fell into place,” said Roldan.
Tomas Goti finished with four goals and Von Wernich added three goals for Pony Express (3-1), which also received a goal at the start by handicap.
Nine-goaler Gonzalito Pieres led Division II champion Audi (2-1) with six goals while Brandon Phillips added four goals, Fred Mannix Jr. scored two goals and patron Marc Ganzi had one goal.
Audi went ahead 13-11 with 2:40 remaining in the game when Phillips picked up a loose ball in front of goal following up a give-and-go between Pieres and Mannix Jr.
Goti’s 50-yard forehand with 1:36 remaining cut the margin to 13-12, setting the stage for Roldan’s heroics.
The Joe Barry Memorial Cup is named after American polo legend Joe Barry, who died on May 18, 2002 at the age of 58. Born and raised in Texas, he achieved a 9-goal rating and dominated polo in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Barry won six U.S. Open championships, three Gold Cups, three Silver Cups as well as the Coronation and Camacho Cup trophies. One of the greatest No. 4s in polo history, Joe Barry was elected to the Polo Hall of Fame in 1999.
The polo matches are open to the public. General admission for the Sunday games at International Polo Club Palm Beach is $10 for adults. Children under 12 enter for free. Tickets may be purchased in advance and they are also available at the gate on the day of the game.
International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington. For information, directions or ticket purchases, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
Joe Barry Memorial Cup:
Thursday’s Semifinals results
New Bridge La Dolfina 19, Patagones 13
Pony Express 14, Audi 13 (overtime)
Sunday’s Game
Championship Game
New Bridge La Dolfina vs. Pony Express, 3 p.m.
Previous champions:
2006 – Catamount defeated Lechuza Caracas 9-7 (22-goal)
2005 – Lechuza Caracas defeated Millarville 13-10 (22-goal)
2004 – Catamount defeated Bendabout 13-10 (22-goal)
2003 – La Herradura defeated Brigadoon 8-5 (18-goal)